MSI ATI Radeon HD 4830

Yes, use Google and search for Ati Catalyst.

Thank you for the lead, but I still haven't found resolution. From those keywords, I made it to http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx , however they didn't have anything specifically labeled HD 4830 drivers. I chose the HD 4800 series drivers, and that didn't help. I checked inside the tower, and the fan is spinning on my graphics card, so I'm somewhat sure it's installed correctly.

What exactly do you expect to "change"?
It's not going to make things look different, it will play games faster and at a higher quality.
To change resolution in windows you right click the desktop and click properties. It's on the setting tab. If the choices are minimal that means you need to install the drivers but it sounds like you found them. If not they are here;
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=xp/ra...

That was for XP(32-bit)
These are for Vista(also 32-bit)
http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista...

Right, I understand that a graphics card will only make my games play faster and in higher quality. My games are not running faster or in higher quality. I have been to that link (for Vista) and downloaded all of that. No luck.

I opened the device manager, and tried some things in there. I had it scan for plug-and-play hardware, and it found nothing, so I went to install legacy hardware and selected the Graphics adapter option. This took me to a list of chipsets created by Intel, and since I was looking for a list of graphic cards, that was somewhat useless.

It may be useful to know that I do not have my monitor plugged into the graphics card, but rather the tower still. When my monitor is plugged into the graphics card, my monitor will not recognize that it is plugged into anything and will go black.

Well of course it needs to be plugged into the graphics card. If the card isn't functioning then either it is defective or the motherboards slot is defective or you haven't installed it properly. Make sure it is securely in the slot and you have connected the 6-pin power cable.

It's also possible that you need to go into the bios and disable the on-board graphics and/or enable the pci-e port for the card to function properly.

I found that part of bios and it was already set for pci. There is definitely power being supplied to it. It is firmly in the slot and everything is screwed in. I'm also using a dsub to dvi converter, so will buy another one of those before sending it back as defective. Is there anything else that could be wrong?

There are only two options in BIOS. Onboard, and PCI. At the least, I couldn't find PEG.

I have been able to go through the driver's install process, but have no confirmation that I actually installed anything. This is not a new build, though I have reformatted recently. I'm upgrading a dell inspiron 530.

Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001)
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2160 @ 1.80 GHz (2CPUs), ~1.8 GHz
Memory 3316MB RAM

Display Device:
Name: Intel G33/G31 Express Chipset Family
Monitor: "Generic Pnp Monitor". It's made by dell and has a 1400 x 900 resolution, (60Hz)

PSU: 400 watts.

Okay, now my graphics card isn't working and my resolution is messed up, but a driver is installed named "Standard VGA Graphics adapter". The fan is spinning on the 4830 still, after being reinstalled. There were no other options in BIOS, and the Intel display driver has been removed. The screen still goes black being plugged into the graphics card through the (working) adapter from dsub to dvi, which is different from not being plugged in at all where it does a RGB test that stops when plugged into the adapter. If this forum can't help me, they do have a support line. :\

Ok stop messing around with the onboard graphics.

Switch off the pc.

Make sure the monitor is plugged into the 4830.

Reinstall the Catalyst drivers. When it's finished you will probably be asked to reload windows (do it), then the screen will be in low resolution mode. Go into your catalyst control centre (red icon bottom right) and choose Advanced when you get the popup. After that you'll have a list of stuff you can fiddle with, all you are interested in is Displays Manager - click that and set your Desktop area to 1400x900.

I did not plug my monitor into the 4830, since the screen will not display when doing this, but otherwise tried to follow your instructions. I reinstalled them, and was not asked to reload windows. I restarted myself, and nothing was different. There was no catalyst control centre, and I haven't found one yet. I am done today. I've worked on it for almost 4 hours and am ready to give up. There's a hotline tomorrow, and if they can't help me, I'm returning it as defective.

I lied, I'm not done today. Bios does not appear on my screen. Should I still do a factory reset?

This issue is solved.

Tech support did its job. I had overlooked the black box on my graphics card to which power is supplied. Because the fan spun, I thought power was being supplied to all parts. Thank you for your efforts, everything is running smoothly now. Sorry to waste your time.